'Secondhand Sunday' plan

GARAGE STORAGE: Marlborough District councillor John Leggett thinks a ‘‘secondhand Sunday’’ might give him the motivation to clear out his garage so he can store his car in it.

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If you've been looking at your jam-packed garage and thinking about clearing out all the stored goods, the Marlborough District Council has a solution for you.

Council solid waste manager Alec McNeil has proposed a "secondhand Sunday" when people can place unwanted items on the footpath outside their house so other people can pick up anything they may need.

It's a recycling opportunity which saves householders the trouble of taking unwanted items to the Resource Recovery Centre.

No money changes hands and the householder is responsible for taking back any items that don't get picked up.

McNeil told the council's assets and services committee meeting this week that Gisborne has been running a secondhand Sunday once a month for the past 12 years and the same concept was trialled in Nelson and Tasman this year.

Inevitably there would be some teething troubles, but it was worth giving the Marlborough community an opportunity to try out the recycling concept.

The proposal was that one secondhand Sunday be held in Blenheim and Picton within the areas currently served by the kerbside recycling service.

More details would be publicised once the council had approved the proposal at its full meeting on August 4.

Councillors at the committee meeting welcomed the proposal, with councillor John Leggett particularly taken with it.

It could be the way he could re-claim his garage back for its original use, he told his colleagues.

"I'm sick of chipping ice off my car every morning."

Self-proclaimed "ardent recycler and upcycler" councillor Cynthia Brooks said she loved the idea.

"Let's give it a go."

Councillor Jenny Andrews said it was one of the most innovative things she's heard for a long time. There was scope for charitable groups to be part of it.

"There is nothing like sharing goods you can't use."

Councillor Jamie Arbuckle said the proposal was exciting, but had concerns that businesses might use it as a way to get goods for free.

McNeil said if the trial was limited to a small area, it might be possible for businesses to "come in and hoover up all the good stuff"'.

However, when the trial reached a certain level, it was too large for them to get around it all. "If we can get enough people taking part, there should be enough for all."